MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/. French President Francois Hollande’s forthcoming talks with Barack Obama in Washington and Vladimir Putin in Moscow should clarify prospects for forming a global coalition to destroy the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.
"Global public opinion is hoping for success of Francois Hollande’s mission. Even if the US, French and Russian military do not unite under joint command, coordination of their strikes on IS targets would also mean success," Alexey Arbatov, head of the International Security Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told TASS.
"Coordination of joint action implies exchange of intelligence data, distribution of targets among allies, help in assessing results of these strikes, and rescue aid in the event that someone’s aircraft or helicopter is attacked by terrorists," he added.
"The international situation in the modern world is changing rapidly. The world has realized that radical Islam is now the main threat to human civilization. Therefore, the United States, France and Russia can stand united against the IS terrorists."
Viktor Kremenyuk, deputy head of the Institute of the US and Canada at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that "French people were longing for the authorities to take decisive steps for revenge on the IS."
"Hollande is less dependent on the US than German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Therefore he feels it his right to invite Barack Obama to unite with Russia in the face of the global terrorist threat as it was during World War Two in the face of Hitler’s threat," Kremenyuk told TASS.
Obama’s behavior during talks with the French leader will depend on his intention to end the period of estrangement between Washington and Moscow, he added.
"The White House head’s reputation is at stake. By the end of his presidential term, Obama may want to strengthen his reputation as a global leader whose decisions do not depend on the opponent Republican Party and the Congress with a Republican majority," Kremenyuk said.
"In the current situation, Obama has to affront the Republicans who have submitted a bill to Congress against admitting Syrian refugees to the US. So, the US closes its doors to refugees when the whole world is helping them, though half of Europe fled to America in 1939 and 1940," he went on.
"Francois Hollande, in turn, wants to play the role of a global leader who reconciles the US and Russia and takes the anti-IS initiative into his hands. This role is an important political trump for Hollande, regardless of the success of his mission," the expert said. "I’d like to hope for success at the forthcoming complicated talks, as the threat of the spread of terrorism is serious and long and the sooner world leaders unite efforts against IS the more hopes we have for victory."
Yevgeny Satanovsky, president of the Middle East Institute, expressed regret that the European Union decided to extend sanctions against Russia when the French president was making attempts to unite Washington and Moscow against the Islamic State threat.
"Russia and the West can become anti-terrorism allies only when anti-Russian sanctions are lifted," Satanovsky told TASS.
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